ISRAEL FRIENDS MAKE PITCH FOR PEACE

WHEN Sammy and Vicci Stein first manned their weekly city centre Glasgow Friends of Israel stall some three years ago, “we thought we would be in for trouble”.

But with a message of “peace for both sides” and a mission to “combat intimidation, hatred, violence and delegitimisation”, the Saturday stall is influencing local opinion.

“When people ask why I am not in shul, I say ‘this is my synagogue’. We also talk about antisemitism,” Mr Stein explains of his Buchanan Street pitch. “Many of those who advocate are Christian. Our strength is the fact that we are not a Jewish organisation.”

A variety of literature is available to passersby and numbers at the stall rise as congregants and visitors leave the Shabbat morning Some of the Glasgow Friends outside the stall

service at nearby Garnethill Synagogue. The Steins also highlight the social aspect and say they have made a number of good friends through the venture.

Born in Tel Aviv in 1946 — “I say to people I was born a Palestinian and they don’t understand” — Mr Stein emphasises the benefits of dialogue.

“We do get people who scream and shout and call us names. But we don’t get a lot of

trouble. The majority don’t know what is going on in the Middle East and are prepared to learn — Israel’s dilemma on one side; the plight of the Palestinians on the other.

“They are also surprised that Christians are advocating.”

The Friends are well supported by the Jewish community. “People tell us, ‘I’d be scared to do what you do so let me give you some money’.”

BARRY TOBERMAN